The Avalanche Kingdom - by Dave Eggers (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

In the hugely anticipated follow-up to the Newbery Medal winner The Eyes and the Impossible, Dave Eggers and Caldecott honoree Shawn Harris reunite with the unforgettable Johannes and Bertrand and Helene for a wild and provocative new adventure.

Johannes is half-dog and half-coyote, fully in love with speed and the beauty of the world. When The Eyes & the Impossible ended, Johannes and his friends, a seagull named Bertrand and a goat named Helene, left behind an urban park by the sea to board a freighter, destination unknown. When that ship runs aground, the friends must for the first time confront the harsh calculus of the wild. Their new environment is full of predators--all of whom are interested in making a meal of the new arrivals.

But they are not alone. The prey of the region have banded together to present a unified front. And they have a powerful new weapon at their disposal--fire--that changes the natural order. But is the natural order the right order? Can it be upended by the most vulnerable?

With Dave Eggers's breathtaking prose and Shawn Harris's singular artwork, The Avalanche Kingdom asks tantalizing questions of nature and existence, while being, like its predecessor, a very funny, wildly lyrical, and beautifully written instant classic of literature for all ages.

About the Author

Dave Eggers is the author of the Newbery Medal winner The Eyes and the Impossible, along with bestsellers The Every, The Monk of Mokha, The Circle, A Hologram for the King, and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. His work has been nominated for the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. He is the founder of McSweeney's, an independent publishing company based in San Francisco, and cofounder of 826 National, a network of educational centers around the country offering free tutoring to kids of all backgrounds.

He lives in Northern California with his family.

Shawn Harris is the author/illustrator of Have You Ever Seen a Flower?, which won a Caldecott Honor Award, as well as The Teeny Weeny Unicorn and Let's Be Bees. He is the illustrator of Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers, which received seven starred reviews, was an Orbis Pictus Award Honor Book, an ALA Notable, and a PW Best Book of the Year. His other picture books include Eggers's What Can a Citizen Do (a Time Magazine Best Children's Book), Everyone's Awake by Colin Meloy, and The Future Book and A Polar Bear in the Snow by Mac Barnett.

Shawn got his start as an illustrator in the early 2000s, creating album art for bands, including his own, the Matches. He lives in Northern California and enjoys surfing.